In an interview published yesterday in the Arabic daily ‘Al-Watan’, Minister of Labor Dr Ghazi Al-Qusaibi spoke of his determination to end unemployment and decrease dependence on foreign workers. To accelerate this, he suggests that the existing exemption of small businesses from the Saudization regulations be reviewed. Unemployment among Saudi nationals, he said, will not be resolved in the short term, but he hoped that it could be eradicated within nine years.

Dr Al-Qusaibi explained that up till now, small enterprises with fewer than 20 employees have been completely exempt from the Saudization program required of larger businesses. Turning to another issue, he declared that the situation with regard to settling labor disputes will improve with the introduction of a new labor law currently being discussed by the Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura). This law will in the long run allow for labor disputes to be settled through Shariah courts as is the case with other disputes.